On Governors Island, Many Visitors but Few Tenants

Hundreds of thousands of visitors are pouring on to Governors Island this summer to play in the new ball fields or swing on the giant red hammocks with spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty. Yet when the island closes to day trippers for the season on Sept. 28, the daytime population will fall to fewer than 1,000 park employees, construction workers, students and artists.

Advocates for the 172-acre island off the southern tip of Manhattan say there have been many stumbling blocks to luring year-round tenants, including...